Release Date: 1993Label: Elephant 6
(self-released by Jeff for himself and his friends)Format: cassette Availability: out of print
(estimated eBay value $130)Comments: This tape is a the
first real NMH release, not counting the early demos tapes, and
consists mostly of real songs, with possible exceptions being "Tea
Time" (a brief, 7 second song fragment), "Los Angelos Car Song" (a
bunch of annoying silliness), and a few more between-song
fragments. "Tuesday Moon" is the same version that later appeared
on the Everything Is CD reissue, though here it includes
an extended ending bit.

The tape was released on the Elephant 6 label, and was
distributed by Parasol Mail Order for a short time in 1993.
Someone going by the name Fortunate Hazel bought a copy back then,
and before putting it on eBay, was kind enough to send me scans
for this discography: cassette
(notice it's labeled as Hype City Soundtracks), insert (large file! Insert is
8.5" x 11" unfolded), lyric
sheet.
Apparently, there are at least 2 versions of this tape, or rather
its presentation, with the art and song titles being different
(but same music.. though on some copies, the last track cuts off
too soon). The above track titles are from the tracklisting found
on the copies from Parasol. However, most mp3s in circulation
feature different names for a few songs, usually as follows:
1. Synthetic Flying Machine - 2:34
2. Wood Guitar - 2:36
3. Tuesday Moon - 4:01
4. Swallowed - 1:42
5. Tea Time - 0:07
6. Ruby Bulbs - 1:53
7. Gardenhead / Leave Me Alone - 3:32
8. Biscuit - 2:47
9. Los Angeles - 0:57
10. Piggy - 4:47
11. Engine - 3:37
Note that "Tea Time" and "Ruby Bulbs" (a.k.a. "Rubby Bulbs") are
separate tracks, not joined together. "Synthetic Flying Machine"
is the same song as "Up And Over We Go." "Swallowed" is the same
song as "April 1st" (which is not to be confused with the totally
different song with the similar name on On Avery Island).
"Ruby Bulbs" is the same song as "Bomb Drop." "Los Angeles" is the
same song as "Los Angelos Car Song."

Release Date: 1994Label: Cher Doll Format: vinyl 7" (cat# 002)Availability: out of print
(but reissued, see below) (estimated eBay value: $46)Comments: Jeff wrote the
following text for the single: "hello and thank you for listening
to my record. it's my first go at this 'legitimate' release stuff
and i'm very happy to finally be on vinyl after five years of
recording. nancy says she's gonna get some folks to distribute
this single, so i have no idea where you are or how it has now
come into your possesion. feel free to write to me cause i'd be
glad to hear from you, so send all correspondence care of Cher
Doll. 'everything is' was recorded two years ago in Amy Poole's
bedroom. it was the first day of spring in Georgia and Amy had
just whipped up a sweet batch of cornbread. it was nice to eat
free food since i'd been unemployed for so long. 'snow song pt 1'
was recorded in my second story bedroom above a nice patch of
snow. (hence the title, of course) if you'd like to hear my
friends' music, you can write to them at elephant 6 p.o. box 9935
Denver CO 80209 take care and thanks again"
Apparently the vinyl has "flippin tacos" and "that's right brother
picker" written in the run-out grooves.
Limited Edition Version: There is also a special version of this
release that includes a special
color
xerox sleeve by Jeff Mangum, as well as a pennant and other
cool inserts (Jeff's above text is taken from the inlay). Here are
a few pictures kindly contributed to the site by henrikhhh: record and sleeve
back, inlay
front, inlay
back, inserts.
There were only 50 copies of this pressing. Presumably, each of
the 50 records came with a different pennant. (#26 came with a
Kansas City pennant, and #5 with a Memphis pennant.)
Oh, and here's something Jeff later said in an interview about the
single: "The single was a Godsend because I was pretty much at the
end of my rope with just about everything in my life at that
point. I'd moved away from my home and all my friends for the
first time and I was very much alone and sad. I ended up sending a
tape to Nancy at Cher Doll Records and she saved me merely by
saying she wanted to do a single. I just sent her a tape of what I
had around at the time, some songs I'd recorded on a four-track,
and she chose 'Everything Is' and 'Snow Song Pt. 1.'"

Release Date: 1995Label: FireFormat: CD (cat# Blaze79CD)
and vinyl 7" (cat# Blaze79A)Availability: out of print
(but reissued, see below)Comments: UK CD released by
Fire Records. Quickly went out of print. Fire also put out a vinyl
7" of "Everything Is" b/w "Snow Song, Pt. 1".. basically a reissue
of the above Cher Doll single, but with a new art. Pictures: front,
back,
side
A, side
B (Thanks to Chris Gilbert for the scans)
The CD release adds a song not on the previous pressings, the
sound collage "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch" (previously found on the Beauty
demo tape under the title "Hypnotic Sounds"). This track was
recorded in Jeff's bedroom in Louisiana when he was 17 years old.
Some of the sounds featured are his sister playing piano, his
mother hearing sounds from space, the baby brother of Will Cullen
Hart talking, a blender, and the music of Ornette Coleman.

Release Date: September 18,
2001Label: Orange Twin Format: CD (cat# OTR005)Availability: in print (Orange
Twin, Amazon)Comments: Adds a song not on
the previous pressing, "Tuesday Moon" (which is the same version
from the Hype City demo, though it has been edited of the
extended ending section).

Jeff: The album was recorded in Denver with Robert
Schneider from The Apples In Stereo. Robert's a friend I met in
second grade, we must have been about eight years old at the
time. It was January in Denver, freezing cold and snowing all
over. I moved into a friend's house and was living in a closet
and it was cold, not only because of the weather but because it
was a haunted house. The closet I was living in was haunted. The
person that lived in the house kept having dreams of people
having cocktail parties in my closet, there would always be
these really beautiful women in really tacky fur coats drinking
champagne and telling my friend that we should get the fuck out
of their party because we were really pissing them off... So I
lived in my closet and listened to a lot of John Coltrane and
waited about a month to start recording. Robert and I would get
stuck on something when we were recording and walk around and
grab our heads and get really frustrated, go outside and have a
cigarette and go to the store, and then we'd suddenly hit on
something and we'd jump up and down and hug each other. The
whole album just blurs in a beautiful way to me, like a dream,
because I guess my whole life the past three years has been
geared towards the end which is the album itself. It's sort of
the culmination of the whole experience.

Release Date: September 9,
1996, reissued January 7, 2008Label: Fire RecordsFormat: CD and LP (cat# FIRE
53)Availability: out of printComments: This UK version
features an alternate cover with art by Jill Carnes, plus two
additional tracks, "Everything Is" and "Snow Song Pt. 1" taken
from the Everything Is single, added without permission.
It didn't stay in print very long, however, and copies of this
version are quite hard to find these days. It was reissued in
2008, however, originally intended to be a deluxe edition with
live/rare bonus tracks, but unfortunately that plan fell through
and the only bonus tracks were the same original 2 bonus tracks
from the Everything Is single. The reissue comes
repackaged in double gatefold digipak sleeve and includes both the
original US and UK Artwork.

Format:
cassetteComments:
The unmastered version submitted to Merge (and floated about on
cassette by Robert) was different than the final release. One fan
recalls:

If you listen to this sequence (and
are able to block out the sequence you are used to) you'll see
that it's a superior record to the final release (the unmastered
version is especially good). Anyway, Merge thought the record was
short and wanted two more songs - Robert had just upgraded from
his 4-track to his 8-track machine, and so they did "You've
Passed" and "Someone Is Waiting" on that (which is why there is a
fidelity difference between those two songs and the rest of the
record) - the sequence was then shifted about in order to
accommodate the additional tracks, and then ironically had to chop
up "Pree-Sisters" to fit on vinyl - for those of us who had spent
the better part of a year grooving to the cassette, the release
was a substantial letdown. the unmastered tape has considerably
more bass (the mastering carved out frequency throughout the
spectrum, but especially from the lo end) and relies primarily
upon the tape itself for compression

Jeff: I felt that I had to really challenge myself and
come up with music that maybe I feel a little uncomfortable with
when I'm writing it. And then I need to take a step back and
decide is it something that could convey beauty or not. This
record wouldn't be this record without the band. I think that's
something that isn't stressed enough usually, because they've
had a very huge influence on me. I think the extent of the
credit I get for this is a little much. Scott [Spillane], the
man who played the horns, has got a certain style that's all his
own which has sort of grown through us playing together for a
number of years. And then Jeremy [Barnes] the drummer is just
amazing. Julian [Koster] always has something magic up his
sleeve, things that make it really exciting. Recording with
Robert [Schneider, of The Apples in stereo, who produced Aeroplane],
having him being able to produce and have such a real feel for
music is really important.

Holland, 1945
A. Holland, 1945 - 3:14
B. Engine - 3:13

Release Date: October 13,
1998Label: Blue Rose Records Format: vinyl 7" (cat# BRRC
10237)Availability: out of print
(estimated eBay value $50-70)Comments: 7" picture disc,
with fold-out poster. Here're the pictures for side A and side B. All copies seem to have "no
72" stamped on the top left-hand corner of the poster, but this is
apparently only part of the artwork, and does not indicate an
individually numbered copy. However, hand-numbered stickers were
affixed to the original plastic bag/sleeve it came in (picture of #480). These
singles were a limited edition of 1000... or so I thought until
someone owning copy #1053 emailed me. So now I'm rather clueless.
If you know-- or have a higher numbered sticker-- please let me
know. Plus, it gets even more blurry given the info shared by NMH
fan lou2ser: "I believe it was released 2 times, orginally by Blue
Rose (the numbered ones) and then again by Orange Twin
(un-numbered). If I recall correctly, Orange Twin found a box full
of this release a few years after Blue Rose sold out and they sold
them through www.orangetwin.com. Both releases are from the same
presssing, only some are numbered and some are not."
Anyways, "Holland, 1945" is the album version. The version of
"Engine" on this release was recorded in a London Underground
station underneath Piccadilly Circus. The same version can also be
found on the Oh, Merge compilation CD.

There is also a rare UK promo CD featuring these same two tracks,
sans artwork. It was put out by Blue Rose Records on October 19,
1998, presumably for radio play consideration (cat# BRRC
10237PROMO) picture

Release Date: August 28, 2001Label: Orange Twin Format: CD (cat# OT004) and
LP (cat# SODY030)Availability: in print (Orange
Twin, Amazon).
Vinyl
also in print, released October 2005 by Isota Records.Comments: Solo acoustic
performance in 'The Starlit Crypt' at a coffeehouse in Athens, GA
on March 7, 1997. In addition to audio playable on a normal CD
player, this is an enhanced CD that includes QuickTime video of
the entire show that you can watch on your computer, shot by
R.E.M. cameraman and independent film maker Lance Bangs. It's just
Jeff in almost complete darkness, with a few colored lights
hanging behind him and a small child cavorting in the background.
Though an official release, the sound quality has "bootleg" all
over it. Even small gaps between tracks. Still, a nice disc for
any obsessed NMH fan. Highlights include an otherwise unreleased
song called "I Will Bury You In Time", the Phil Spector song
(actually written by Barry Mann and Larry Kolber, but Spector
produced the Paris Sisters version which popularized the song in
1961), and an early version of "Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2" that
includes a great extended ending not on the album version.
For more info on this release, visit http://www.orangetwin.com/jittery.html

Holland, 1945
7" Picture Disk
Originally released in 1998 and out of print ever since, featuring a
remastered version of Holland 1945 with full color poster.
• Holland, 1945
• Engine

You've Passed / Where You'll Fine Me Now
Two early unreleased 4-track recordings, in some ways superior to
the "Avery Island" versions.
• You've Passed
• Where You'll Find Me Now

Little Birds
7" record
Two versions of "Little Birds", one a previously unreleased studio
recording and one remastered version performed live in Athens, GA on
December 5, 1998.
• Little Birds (studio)
• Little Birds (live)

two posters
24" x 24"
One featuring the flying gramophone image from In the Aeroplane Over
the Sea insert by artist Brian Dewan.
The other poster features the "woman leaking with light" front cover
image of the box set, printed with silver ink on black paper.

Release Date: December 12,
2011Label: Neutral Milk Hotel
RecordsFormat: vinyl (cat# NMH001)Availability: in print (http://walkingwallofwords.com/).Comments: Announced in
August 2011, this marked the first release of "new" Neutral Milk
Hotel material since 1998. The self-released vinyl-only box set
includes fifteen previously unreleased tracks. These
newly-released songs should eventually also be available as
pay-what-you-wish downloads.
The set includes two gatefold 12" records (In the Aeroplane
Over the Sea and On Avery Island), two 10"
records (Everything Is EP with bonus tracks and Ferris
Wheel on Fire EP featuring eight previously unreleased
acoustic recordings), two 7" records (Little Birds and You've
Passed/Where You'll Find Me Now), one 7" picture disc with
fold-out poster (Holland 1945/Engine), and two 24"x24"
posters.